This invention relates to machine lubrication systems of engines, compressors and the like machinery, including an oil-lubricant pressure source communicated with a reservoir means and a means for maintaining the working properties of the lubricant.
The latter means in known such systems (Charles Fayette Taylor, The Internal Combustion Engine in Theory and Practice, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1966; K. Abrosimov, A. Bromberg, F. Katayev. Road-Making Machinery, Mir Publishers, Moscow, 1972; M. Khovakh. Motor-Vehicle Engines, Mir Publishers, 1971; B. Gelman and M. Moskvin. Farm Tractors, Mir Publishers, 1975; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,400,285, 3,356,182, etc.) removes solid contaminants from lubricant by filtering, straining, gravitational displacement, centrifugal separation, etc. with full-flow and bypass (5-20% of the flow).
Being unable to remove all contaminants from lubricant, said removing means are assumed to be qualified if the size of the removed solids is more than the clearance in the sliding pairs of the machinery. In many cases this is achieved by fine-mesh bypass filters consuming much energy and requiring their frequent changes because of their clogging and, in some areas, becoming a repository for biological growth.